Sydney”•Volunteer firefighters in Australia will be offered government compensation after spending extended periods fighting bush fires raging across the country, authorities announced Sunday.
Rural Fire Service volunteers who have spent at least 10 days battling blazes in worst-hit New South Wales (NSW) state are immediately eligible for the scheme, which offers payments of up to Aus$300 ($209) per day for a maximum of Aus$6,000 per person.
“While I know RFS volunteers don’t seek payment for their service, I don’t want to see volunteers or their families unable to pay bills, or struggle financially as a result of the selfless contribution they are making,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
“This is not about paying volunteers. It is about sustaining our volunteer efforts by protecting them from financial loss.”
Morrison said the compensation scheme would be rolled out across other Australian states and territories if local authorities requested that assistance.
“They run their own shows; they know what their challenges are,” he said of the state governments.
The scheme”•which applies only to self-employed volunteers and those working for small-and medium-sized businesses”•is expected to cost about Aus$50 million in NSW, which boasts the world’s largest volunteer fire service at 70,000 people.
Volunteers who are also government employees were last week granted additional paid leave to help fight the blazes.
Morrisonhas come under increasing pressure in recent weeks over his response to the bush fire crisis, which has killed 10 people, destroyed hundreds of homes and scorched more than three million hectares.
The prime minister was forced to apologize for taking a family holiday to Hawaii as Australia battled the bush fires, a decision that sparked public outrage and prompted street protests.
Temperatures are set to soar again across large parts of south-eastern Australia, with elevated fire danger expected in the lead-up to New Year’s Day.
People were ordered to evacuate Victoria state’s East Gippsland region Sunday amid concerns three large blazes sparked over a month ago could burn out of control.
Victoria’s Emergency Management commissioner Andrew Crisp said the more than 30,000 people in the popular tourist region should “leave now”, as fires could force the closure of the last major road still open.
“What we’re saying now with the conditions that will be confronting us tomorrow… is if you’re holidaying in that part of the state, it’s time you left,” Crisp said, while urging local residents to do the same.
A major music festival was also canceled ahead of the forecast extreme weather conditions, with 9,000 people asked to leave the Falls Festival campsite in Lorne due to the risk of bush fires, smoke haze and severe winds.
Severe thunderstorms and damaging wind gusts are predicted for neighboring South Australia state, where multiple fires are raging nd the bush fire danger will be extreme in several areas Monday.
Firefighters are also bracing for bush fire conditions to worsen during the week in NSW, where 95 blazes were burning Sunday, including 48 uncontained.